1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to integrated circuit semiconductor devices and more specifically to highly integrated implementations of global positioning system receivers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The retail price of complete global positioning system (GPS) receivers including hand-held, battery-operated portable systems, continues to decrease. Competitive pressures drive manufacturers to reduce manufacturing costs while maintaining or actually improving functionality and reliability. Semiconductor fabrication advances have provided a vehicle to meet such goals, and to offer still smaller devices.
With a highly-integrated GPS receiver implementation, it is desirable to incorporate a GPS receiver's digital signal processing circuitry with a microcomputer with its associated peripherals, e.g., real time clock, serial input/output controllers, analog-to-digital converters, et cetera. In conventional GPS receivers, circuitry for digital signal processing and an associated microprocessor are separate, discrete devices mounted to one or more printed circuit boards.